


ill-timed

by spacebubble



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Angst, Episode: s04e26 Broken Link, Ficlet, Fix-It, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, M/M, Public Display of Affection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2019-01-20 04:52:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12425385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacebubble/pseuds/spacebubble
Summary: Everyone's used to Quark and Odo making a scene. But not like this.





	ill-timed

**Author's Note:**

> just another way That Scene could have gone in "Broken Link."
> 
> :)

They stood facing each other on the Promenade, and Odo was decaying in front of his eyes.

Quark stepped closer.

Any other Ferengi in his right mind would’ve stayed far away from such an obviously diseased being.

Was it fatal? No one knew. But Quark suspected the odds weren’t great.

He’d seen disease before. Suffering, before. 

He’d held the hand of a dying person before. 

Nothing to be done, besides simply being there for them. 

Quark kept his hands at his sides and kept his eyes on Odo’s face. 

The sight should have scared him. It was hideous. The disease ravaged Odo’s features, marring every inch of him like an experiment gone wrong. The Changeling looked contagious and dangerous and Quark should have been more scared by the seriousness of everything. 

But he wasn’t scared. It was hard to feel scared when he knew Odo was feeling much worse.

It hurt to see Odo looking like that, knowing how much the Changeling cared about maintaining an orderly appearance, and how severe his sickness must be to affect his control so badly. Even Odo's hair was a mess, and it filled Quark with a strange sadness to realize that he couldn’t see the individual strands anymore. Odo used to make a point of shapeshifting each individual strand. Quark forgot how he knew about that. He’d probably asked, at some point. 

A wry smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. There was so much more he wanted to ask.

But time was running short, and now was not the time.

Odo shook as he stood, but he stood, nevertheless, with Kira and Bashir ready to support him if he faltered.

But he didn’t seem to notice them, and he didn’t seem to notice any of the staring crowd surrounding them on the Promenade, even as all eyes locked onto his diseased form.

He only had eyes for Quark.

Quark swallowed. He suppressed the urge to flinch. The stupid Changeling was likely spending the rest of his dwindling energy just to look Quark in the eye. The least he could do was look back.

And he kept looking, and he kept stepping closer, even as he started losing track of what he was saying.

Something about running the station while Odo was gone. Just enough to keep Odo’s spirits up. Kick up a fire behind those melting eyes.

Odo’s reply came through a ragged throat. “Well, don't get used to it. I'll be back before you know it, making your life miserable.” 

The familiar growl made Quark smile. “Then you are coming back.”

Odo nodded, shakily. "Count on it."

One last step forward.

“I will,” Quark replied quietly.

Simple. Sincere.

He watched Odo nod at him again, grunting in acknowledgement.

A small drop of liquid fell off of Odo’s chin. It resembled a falling tear. 

Quark blinked. 

Well.

That was it, then.

He might as well break off eye contact and give Odo that one last dignity.

So Quark glanced away, turned to leave -

When a strong hand clamped itself on his arm and whirled him around.

Did more than whirl him around, actually.

Quark made a sound somewhere between a whimper and a _very_ lewd moan as Odo kissed him senseless in the middle of the Promenade.

He clutched at Odo’s dripping uniform front, barely even caring that his fingers sank into the uniform’s far too malleable surface and that he was really digging his fingers into Odo himself because all of Odo’s clothes were Odo and _oh Exchequer,_ Quark kept forgetting Odo was naked all the time -

But now was not the time to think about _that_ , not when Odo was finally kissing him and forcing the most pathetic noises out of Quark, sounds that would have earned quite a pretty sum from the leading holonovelists on Ferenginar. For a brief, wild instant, Quark imagined being kissed in a sound booth, every little moan captured for posterity, registered and cataloged for future use. But now _really_ wasn't the time to think about that...

It was the worst possible time, really. 

But Quark couldn’t bring himself to care about Odo’s terrible timing, not when Odo kept kissing him like his life depended on it, like he could maybe drink a cure from Quark’s lips -

Tears dripped down Quark’s cheeks, mingling with the liquid slowly running down Odo’s face as they pressed closer to one another. Every drop reminded Quark that Odo was maybe dying and maybe also definitely shouldn’t be wasting his precious remaining time kissing him, and Quark couldn’t figure out if he was happy or sad, then gave up and decided it was both.

“Quark,” Odo began, then stopped to kiss him again, more tenderly this time, so tenderly that Quark wanted to complain that they didn’t have the _time_ for such tenderness, that all this kissing was making everything infinitely worse, because it gave Quark so much more to _lose_.

So why did he feel like he was winning?

Quark kissed back to distract himself from the rising number of questions he had.

How could Odo do this to him? On the eve of his departure? What if Odo never returned, never came back to him, leaving Quark with the memory of this last-minute kiss from a dying man -

Quark started whining from the back of his throat, pathetic and wordless noises of distress that made Odo kiss him even more tenderly, as if Odo were trying to comfort _him_ , even when it ought to be the other way around, and Quark wanted to tell Odo that, he had so _much_ he wanted to tell Odo, if only he had the time -

He felt Odo’s melting hand, liquefying and strange, gently caress the back of his neck.

And then, with great reluctance, Odo slowly pulled away from him.

Quark wiped away the wetness from his eyes. He wasn’t sure if it was entirely his own. 

The rest of the Promenade seemed to have fallen silent, which was a first. Even Kira and Bashir remained speechless.

And Odo just kept gazing at him.

And Quark wanted very badly to kiss him again, disfigured mouth and all.

But Bashir was already gently reminding them that the Defiant was waiting, and Odo couldn’t afford to wait much longer, and Quark knew he had to step aside.

He watched Odo walk away from him. He hoped it wouldn’t be the last time.

It could very well be the end of everything.

But it felt more like a beginning.


End file.
